This invention relates to external vehicle LED lights and electrical connectors connecting the lights to the bayonet sockets ordinarily found in the vehicles for connecting to incandescent bulbs with bayonet bases.
Motor vehicles have tail lights, stop lights, back-up lights, and the like. They generally have external lenses securely fastened in place. In the case of stop and tail lights, these are red. Behind the lens is mounted one or more light bulbs. These may be incandescent bulbs with one or more filaments. The bulb is held fixedly in correct operating position by its socket, which is a bayonet socket securely mounted and grounded to the vehicle. These are well known in the art. They require the bulb to be inserted forcefully by translation and then rotated. This ensures good electrical contact, correct contact registration in the case of multiple filaments, and secure holding against vibration. Incandescent bulbs have a short life and draw too much current, since much of the power is used as heat, not light. Even the light emitted is mostly wasted, since all but the desired color is removed by the lens/filter. On the other hand, light emitting diodes convert almost all of the electrical energy into light of the desired color. The labor costs of frequent bulb replacement are excessive. Furthermore, until the failed bulb is replaced, the vehicle is unsafe. U.S. Pat. No. 5,594,433 issued Jan. 14, 1997 to Terlep discloses a pair of LED""s mounted on a bayonet base. The assembly must be pushed into the bayonet socket and then rotated with considerable torque. There must be sufficient clearance in the mounting space for this maneuver, and strength in the assembly to resist the torque required. Commercially available LED lamp assemblies for replacement of vehicle lights are provided by ROMA INTERNATIONAL INDUSTRIES of Miami, Fla. They all terminate in connectors that operate by simple translation. They all have molded on external lenses, by which they are held in position on the vehicle. They cannot be used to replace a bayonet base bulb without rewiring, and disposal of the original lens.
It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide lights that have very long lives and draw much less current for an equivalent amount of light, namely light emitting diodes (LEDS). It is another object to provide such lights that can be used with existing bayonet sockets by means of a simple socket adapter. Since each LED emits a narrow beam of light, the LED light source will be comprised of a plurality of LED""s distributed in a manner to emulate the light distribution of the light being replaced. It is yet another object that the combination of LED light assembly and adapter correctly position the light to facilitate conversion from the prior incandescent bulb. It is yet another object that the LED assembly optionally incorporate the external lens as well. It is yet another object that the light assembly optionally incorporate other electrically powered elements such as blinking lights, sound generators, and the like. These and other objects, features, and advantages of the invention will become more apparent when the detailed description is studied in conjunction with the drawings in which like elements are designated by like reference characters in the various drawing figures.